Description

The monument comprises two cairns of prehistoric date, visible as upstanding earth-and-stone mounds. Cairns such as this are funerary and ritual monuments built during the Early Bronze Age (c.2500-1500BC).

The monument lies at around 130m OD, just to the NE of the summit of a NW spur on the Hill of Alvah. The site comprises two circular cairns approximately 60m apart. The easternmost cairn is the best preserved, measuring approximately 16m in diameter by 2m high, with a distinctive flat top. The second cairn may once have been larger but is now only identifiable as a low stony area 20m in diameter. Antiquarian records indicate that this cairn was quarried for stone during the 1800s. These two monuments form part of a group of similar-sized cairns which lie to the W of the valley of the River Deveron. Interestingly, the Hill of Alvah cairns are not intervisible with the earlier Stirling long cairn, even though it lies only a few hundred metres away.

Two circular areas are proposed for scheduling, both 40m in diameter, centred on the two cairns, to include the cairns and an area around them within which related material may be expected to be found, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance for its potential to contribute to our understanding of prehistoric ritual and funerary practices. It may be expected to contain funerary deposits and evidence relating to its mode of construction and use, and may also preserve evidence for contemporary landuse and environmental conditions.

The importance of this monument is further enhanced by its relationship to similar sites nearby, and in the broader area of the valley of the Deveron and its hinterland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded by RCAHMS as NJ66SE6.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland